The Final Feathers
by James5
Summary: Story of Heero and Relena's future after 'Endless Waltz.' (Technical improvements made years later :D)


Disclaimer: _Mobile Suit Gundam Wing_, copyright Sunrise/Sotsu Agency.

_The Final Feathers _

By James

* * *

"Are you sure this is the place?" asked a driver.

"…It's the address intelligence gave me," replied a young woman.

"And you're sure you don't want me to go in with you?"

She stepped out of the car, "Thank you, Charles, but I'll be all right."

"Looking nice today," he said.

"That's very kind of you."

"Well take all the time you need," he said, "you've worked so hard you deserve this vacation."

"No, no," she replied. "If I'm…going to stay I'll come down and send you home."

"…All right," he said.

Gaining the attention of a few people as she enters a beautiful lobby, Relena Darlian shyly hid under a wide hat, and walked over to the reception desk.

"Um, excuse me. I called earlier," she said, handing her card to the girl.

"…You're Vice Foreign Minister…'Darlian?' "

" '_Dor-lan._' " She smiled.

"Oh I'm sorry."

"That's okay."

"You sound just a bit older on the phone."

Relena grins.

"So you wanted to confirm the apartment number of…one of the residents here…" she said, tapping a keyboard.

Relena held her hands a bit tighter and let out a soft breath.

The woman glanced up at Relena. "Heero Yuy lives on the third floor, apartment 306."

"Thank you." Relena paused, looking up at the ceiling for a few seconds.

"Seems kind of important to you," said the young woman behind the desk.

"He…" She paused again. "I mean, it is." Relena smiled.

"Maybe you'd like to leave him a note if he's not there."

"How could I...do that?"

A few seconds later, the girl handed Relena a key marked '306.'

"I'm pretty sure I can trust you," said the girl, "being the Vice Foreign Minister and all." She rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"That's very sweet of you," said Relena. "Thanks."

Relena headed for the elevator, but stopped on the way and decided to take the stairs, giving herself more time to think.

Upon reaching the third floor, something occurred to her. _It might not really be him. Why would he use his…'code name' here? It would make him too easy to find if…if someone still had a grudge._

Relena stared at the floor, as the excitement that had been building in her for two days sank a little.

Then she walked down the hall, and after a brief pause, knocked on door 306.

Relena removed her hat, and shyly held it in front of her mouth. Her eyes again met the floor as she thought back to the day she had held Heero when he collapsed. Then her serious eyes looked at the door again.

There was no response.

Relena did it again.

There was still no response.

She held the key up and looked at it. She didn't want to intrude for a couple of reasons.

It simply didn't feel right, especially when she thought back to the times she had done it in the past. The other was because, knowing Heero, he probably had the door rigged somehow if he was staying there.

She imagined herself lying on the floor bleeding while he stepped out of the shower to find her…and then casually walked to the kitchen as if nothing had happened.

Relena lowered the key and knocked one more time.

There was still no response, so she hesitantly put the key in…and opened the door.

Slowly, she pushed on it and peeked inside.

What she began to see was a very nice, clean apartment with the sun shining through the windows of a balcony, a television against the wall next to the balcony, a computer on the other side—and a sofa in the middle of the room.

Sleeping on that very sofa, was the boy called Heero Yuy.

Relena paused where she was with her arms crossed, holding the doorknob with one hand, and her hat in the other as she stared at him.

Heero was wearing his usual outfit of jeans and a tank top. He even had his shoes on, as though he were planning to go somewhere, but had fallen asleep.

Relena's eyes raced all over and she licked her lips. She quietly entered the living room, and began to close the door. Then she stopped and remembered that the key was still connected, and reached around for it.

She closed the door and turned around. Relena's eyes widened suddenly. Heero was up and facing her, with a lowered gun.

"…Heero," she said softly.

Heero let out a light sigh and closed his eyes, shaking his lowered head a bit.

"I…I'm sorry," said Relena.

Heero walked over to a desk behind the sofa and put the gun away.

Relena watched him from behind, admiring how nice the colors of his outfit were. She smiled, then looked at his shoulders, watching them flow as he moved.

"I…wanted to see you," said Relena.

"I know," said Heero as he put his hands on the desk. "Why?"

"_Why_?" asked Relena, soon regretting that she had said it so obviously.

"I know your reason for _being_ here — but what's the reason for coming?" he asked, inquiring about the nature of her visit.

"I, I…" She looked at the floor. "Well, I have some time off," she said in a more pleasant voice. "And I…just thought I'd see how you were," she smiled.

Heero turned back to her slowly.

Relena kept her smile on him.

"I've been fine," he said gently. "How did you get in?"

"Oh," she lifted her hand, "the receptionist gave me this, in case you were gone so I could leave a note."

"What would it have said?" he asked.

"What?"

"The note."

"Oh," said Relena. "I, I would have just said…"

Heero looked at her blinking his eyes.

"I don't know," said Relena lightly. "I would have…said that…" She summoned her courage. "That I missed you."

Heero stared at her, then quietly dropped his gaze downward.

Relena was clutching her hat, as she knew that charm and words never worked on him. She used to feel confident during moments like this. Now she felt embarrassed.

"I…would have said that," she repeated.

Relena decided that since she was already embarrassed she might as well go all out.

"And I would have said…that I wanted…"

Heero stared. "What?" he asked casually, as though he could tell how she felt and was sympathetic.

"That I wanted to…just touch you again," she said shyly.

Heero looked at her.

"I mean." She spoke teasingly. "If you were ever passing out and needed someone…"

"Go ahead," said Heero.

"What?" said Relena.

Heero looked at the floor for a second or two, then slowly brought his eyes to hers.

Relena stared at him from across the room, holding her hat softly with both hands.

Heero stared back.

Relena took a step, paused, then slowly walked over to him.

She stood before him quietly, looking a bit tense, and began to blush slightly.

Heero's eyes nervously went from hers, to the hand she was slowly raising, then to the floor.

Relena stopped, then brushed his chin with the back of her fingertips, before cupping the side of his face.

She breathed a bit. She was quite nervous. Touching him when he was nearly unconscious was one thing, but with him awake and aware…it was something she hadn't really done since the dance. Even then, the circumstances weren't exactly right. But this…was the moment she had really been waiting for.

Relena smiled as she breathed and dropped her eyes to the floor as well for a moment. "That wasn't so hard was it?" she thought to herself.

Then her smile came back to Heero's face. It was the same smile as when he had wiped her tear away so long ago. Then it became the seductive smile she had used after watching him walk away, the day after she arrived at the school.

Relena's hand slowly moved down, and went to touch Heero's chest so she could feel his heart beating. Just before that could happen however, he took her hand gently.

Her eyes met his again.

"I have to go," he said.

"Heero…" said Relena.

He walked over to a closet.

Relena sighed

"That your driver down there?" he asked looking out the balcony window.

Relena walked over to it. Heero moved away to a mirror.

"Yes."

"And you used the colony intelligence to find my place?"

Relena touched the glass door. "Yes," she muttered. "I thought you might be using a different name. To lay low until…"

"I figured people would expect that…people like enemies," he said.

Relena kept looking across the street below.

"So I decided to do the opposite—the last thing they'd probably expect. Few people will believe it's really me when they find that name." He slipped on his jacket.

Tears began to form in Relena's eyes. "Yeah well, I'd better go," she said quickly as she headed for the door.

Heero stared.

She stopped for a second when she reached it, then continued. "I'll see you some other time then," she said, hiding her face. Then she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

Inside, Heero Yuy stood where he was for what seemed like a long time…before removing his jacket.

Outside, Relena stepped up to the car, hiding her face under her hat. "Home please, Charles."

"Sure thing," he replied.

Sitting in the backseat, a variety of thoughts began in Relena's head.

_How can two people who are so brave most of the time…be so afraid when around each other?_

She removed her hat, revealing her sad face.

_All I usually end up with is stress when I think about him…or when I'm around him. That's not good for me. But how can something that's wrong…feel so right? _Relena clenched her fists. _Why…why does he do that?_

Then she sighed, staring out the window, then up at the roof. She giggled a bit after a thought came to her. "If only," she said playfully.

As Relena closed her eyes, she found herself back in the family kingdom. She imagined herself as a much different person—a much different ruler. Suddenly, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Who is it?" asked Relena.

"Your Highness, we've got your request," said a guard.

"Oh really," smiled Relena. "Enter then."

The door slammed open, and a bound Heero Yuy was tossed to the floor.

"I _said_ he was not to be hurt!"

"I'm, I'm sorry, Your Highness. He put up such a struggle that- -"

"Never mind. Proceed."

The guards placed Heero in a chair and bound him to it. Then they saluted Relena, and closed the door after leaving.

Relena walked over to him slowly, and removed his gag.

"By the time I get free from here you'll- -"

She gagged him again.

"Now, now, Heero," said Relena. "I'm only doing this for your own good. I'm pulling you out of danger, and sparing you from hurting anyone else. Instead…instead you can live here. With me," she grinned.

Heero moaned and frowned angrily at her.

"Don't bother trying to escape," she said, "I can assure you there's no way that's going to happen. Not even you can get past all the guards I've got, baby. I will bring peace to the world…and then…and then you'll rule along side me. No more struggling. Won't that be a nice change?"

Heero moaned even louder.

"You may fight at first, but eventually you'll give in. Despite what everyone thinks," she said clutching his chin, "you _are _human. I know it. I've seen the way you've looked at me when you thought I wasn't watching."

Heero frowned.

"Oh well…let me know when you're hungry," she said, removing his gag again.

"Relena!" he yelled as she walked away. "Relena I'll get you for this! I'll never give in! Never! You hear me?!"

Relena walked to the door and opened it, looking back to blow a kiss at Heero before stepping out.

"Relen- -!"

His voice was gone when she shut the door. She closed her eyes, adjusted her crown, and opened them again to see Dorothy standing before her.

"Well done, Miss Relena," said Dorothy, arrogant as always.

"Thanks," Relena replied with a high five.

_No…what am I…what am I thinking?_ thought Relena to herself in the car. _I could never do something like that. I…oh calm down, Relena it's only a fantasy._

She touched her hair to be absolutely sure there was no crown in it.

_Only…a fantasy..._ she thought.

Suddenly, Relena saw herself again. Sitting at a table in an elegant restaurant. After she had been waiting for a little while, Heero quietly approached with a nice jacket over one arm.

"Relena," he said.

"Hi Heero," she smiled as he sat down.

"What did you want?" he asked.

"Yes, I came to tell you that I've decided to let go," she replied.

Heero stared at her with his fingers interlocked on the table.

"I realize that it's never going to happen with you and me, and I respect that," she continued.

Heero nodded.

"So then, no more annoying Relena to shout your name all the time," she teased.

Heero grinned to himself and drank some of the tea before him.

"I apologize for not doing this sooner. It's just that most boys..." She tilted her head. "M_ost boys_ I've met have been attracted to me."

Heero kept drinking.

"Told me I was pretty, and all that," she said ,looking at him.

Heero frowned a bit, then put the cup on the table.

"I just mean…you do at least think I'm pretty, don't you, Heero?"

Heero suddenly looked a bit dazed and out of it.

"You can find someone attractive, but not be attracted _to _them," she said. "Not that that's necessarily the case with you and me."

Her words became slurred as he listened.

"Heero?" said Relena. "You _are_ attracted to me…aren't you?" she said, reaching his hands across the table.

"…Y-Yes," said Heero slowly.

Relena smiled. "Good. Then I'm sure you'll forgive me when I tell you that I slipped something in your drink before you came. It was a trick used on me a while ago. I didn't like using it but hey…if it works y'know?"

Heero was holding Relena's hands silently.

Relena smiled at him sweetly from across the table.

_No!_ thought Relena in the car. _I…what is with me today? All this acting on my emotions. _She looked out the window again. _Why am I having these silly kinds of fantasies? I mean, some girls they fantasize about…about…_

With a bit of hesitation, Relena thought about herself. She thought about herself at home — when she would sometimes stare at her own figure in the mirror.

Then Relena thought about Heero again.

She imagined him staying in a hotel, asleep again, but on a bed this time, with nothing visible on under the covers. After getting herself a master keycard at the reception counter, she walked up to Heero's room, and entered.

Locking the door, she went to the bedroom where he was sleeping, entered it's bathroom, and came out in a nightgown.

Just as she approached the foot of the bed, Heero woke up.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked bitterly.

Relena said nothing. Suddenly, she lifted her straps and dropped the nightgown to the floor, revealing her black underwear.

Heero was speechless as she moved toward him. He watched her breasts jiggle as she got in the bed, sitting on her knees above him.

Relena brushed back her hair a bit and looked at him arrogantly. Then she stood up and removed her two pieces of clothing, tossing them on the floor. Heero gritted his teeth and looked up at her with an intimidated face. Relena leaned down, and pulled the covers off of him. Then returned to her position.

"Where's your resistance now Heero?" she asked teasingly.

Heero moaned and looked away from her.

Suddenly, Relena was feeling herself get a little too aroused in the car.

"I…oh boy," she said.

She decided to behave herself the rest of the way home.

That evening at his apartment, Heero held a dictionary and looked at the word "love."

He stared at the first definition, the one about having a deep and tender affection for some one or thing. Then he closed the book, and thought to himself.

"Didn't you ever have a situation like this old man?"

Then he tried to imagine what his fellow, former Gundam pilots would say.

"Love's not easy to find, go for it Heero," said Duo's voice.

"She has feelings for you. Don't you have feelings for her?" asked Quatre's.

"Finding someone with a genuinely good heart is a nice thing," said Trowa's

"It's all up to you. You should be old enough to understand what you do or don't feel. It's time to figure it out," said Wufei's.

Then Heero had a vision of his own.

It was unlike the ones he was used to. It wasn't of a fight with another person, or an enemy mobile suit. It wasn't of being someplace high with a parachute, and having the courage to jump. It wasn't of readying a weapon, or escaping capture. It was just of a girl.

A girl as normal as any other. One who was full of emotion, but was unsure of how to release it at times.

One who'd never cause harm when she could help it, but had sometimes made mistakes that did.

One who was brave in the face of danger, but a bit timid in other tense situations.

A girl sort of like himself in some regards.

Then Heero approached this girl slowly, taking her hand in his. He looked her in the eyes, staring at them for a long time…before finally acting on what he was finally letting himself feel. And then Heero brought his lips to hers, and pressed softly.

Then Heero's vision was over, and he got a hold of himself once again, feeling a breeze through the screen door as he sat.

He put the book down and stood himself up.

Later, Relena was sitting at her computer. She rested her head in one hand, while typing random things with another.

'relena yuy', she wrote with a slight grin.

Then she decided to check her E-mail.

A surprised look came over her face when she saw a message from a name she wasn't used to.

She became far more surprised when she realized who the message was from. The final shock of the night came when she walked to her door, opened it, and sure enough, found a bouquet of flowers at her feet.

"H-Heero," she whispered.

She picked them up with a smile, feeling something unlike anything she had ever felt before. Not even when he had spoken to her on Libra.

At the moment, Relena Darlian was somewhere between space and Earth.

The next day, Heero was sitting at a table just outside of a café when someone approached from behind.

"Heero," said Relena softly.

He turned, and saw her holding two of the white flowers he had left at her door. As she passed, Relena gently brushed them against his face. Although a bit surprised, Heero remained still. He watched as they slowly left his eyes, looking like the final feathers of an angel's wings before taking off in the distance.

Heero looked at her as she sat down, thinking about his vision last night.

"I brought one for you," she said.

"No thanks," said Heero.

"Thank you very much for these," said Relena.

"Did a driver bring you here?"

"No," she smiled. "So. What now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know my reason for _being_ here — but I don't know my reason for coming."

"Well I…" he stopped. "I, wanted to see you. To tell you something," he said.

"What?" asked Relena.

"I…I don't exactly remember."

Relena opened her mouth slightly and looked somewhat disappointed. Then saw Heero stand up and walk to the side of the table. She followed suit.

Heero had his hands in his pockets. "The battles are over…but I'm still fighting one inside myself."

Relena held the flowers and looked at his shirt.

"Before I can completely move on, I'll have to deal with that."

"Well, then. I have just two questions," said Relena looking at the flowers in her hands.

Heero turned to her slightly.

"Do you want help?" she asked.

"I…" He paused. "No," he said softly.

"Will I ever know your real name then, Heero?"

Heero turned to her, then slowly stared away.

Relena assumed that the answer to the second question was the same, and looked off herself.

Suddenly, she felt Heero's hand on the back of her neck, and he drew her in close. A surprised look fell over her face as he held her head to the side of his.

And then, Heero whispered something in Relena's ear…before kissing just below it.

For what felt like such a long time, Relena stood frozen, before she finally closed her eyes.

Then Heero let her go, brushing the tops of both flowers slightly before walking away.

Relena watched him go.

Just before leaving herself, she reached into her pocket…and pulled out a small key.

She stared at it for a few seconds, then tucked it away and went home.

**End**


End file.
